AWD cars that work in the snow

[VB]

I want a car that can actually get me about (I live on Datrmoor) when the weather turns bad. I don't fancy a proper 4x4 as a form of daily transport, which has left me with a couple of options.

I'll have a budget of around £7-8k. So far, I've been thinking about these:
WR1

7

8 GSR

MPS6

3.2 Quattro



I've never driven any of these cars & to be honest, there's only two on that list that the wife approves of I'm guessing you can tell which they'd be But, if the MPS & A3 are completely & utterly useless then at least I have some ammunition to go away with.

From reading bits and bobs on the forums, I can glean most of it comes down to tyre choice but what about the AWD systems? How do they cope on loose/icy ground? Will they still require snow chains for the worst of it?


I'll come clean now & tell you that i'm mostly using this as an excuse for a new toy, (let's be honest, it's not that bad in the winter is it- I rescued my wife when she got the Passat stuck in the snow in a lowered MX5 )

[Liquid Knight]

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

[SD1992]

My Dad's A4 Quattro was unstoppable in the snow, highly recommended!

[VB]

Liquid Knight said:

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

I was seriously thinking about one of them

[alcovrugbyfan]

X Type Jag 3.0

[VB]

SD1992 said:

My Dad's A4 Quattro was unstoppable in the snow, highly recommended!

Which version was it?

[Mazdarese]

Liquid Knight said:

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

My 6 MPS was remarkable in the snow last winter, with 225 tyres, as I went out to rescue my 60-year-old neighbour in her 320d! I think 'practically useless' is a bit harsh.

[Stack]

My Legacy Works a treat in the snow , I only got stuck once & that was because the snow was far too deep..

[SD1992]

VB said:

Which version was it?

It is a 2008 (last of the old shape) 3.0 TDI S Line avant.

We live up in the Highlands where there was unbelievable amounts of snow and lots of hills, it never let us down.

[LukeSi]

Evo 7, you know you want to.

[trickywoo]

Liquid Knight said:

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

My Rav4 has 235 section tyres. Its the 3 door original shape so not big or heavy. On cheapo summer tyres in the snow it was fine. It skipped up hills that had Landrovers slithering without any drama at all.

[rhinochopig]

Liquid Knight said:

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

Completely agree. My EVO was downright dangerous in the snow - it would attempt to swap ends at every possible opportunity. On winter tyres however it was fun and controllable.

My old Scoob GX on skinny tyres was great in the snow.

That said, a small FWD hatch with narrow winters is easily a match for a 4x4 on summers. I passed an abandoned RR sport and a Freelander on the hills on the NY Moors in my wifes Sportka running winters. I even took it off-roading for a laugh on the local forest tracks and despite the low ground clearance it scrabbled up some hills that my x-trail on all seasons would have struggled with.

In short, buy a small FWD hatch and some winters and save your cash for a summer toy instead.

[checkmate91]

Tyres!! An AWD on summer tyres isn't much better than a 2wd on summer tyres...

[Liquid Knight]

VB said:

Liquid Knight said:

Subaru Justy. Anything with wide tyres will be practically useless.

I was seriously thinking about one of them

I had a £200 MkII 1990 one with the three pot engine. I was using it to pull bigger and arguably better cars out of an ASDA car park. One chap in an SLK offered me a straight swap. I politely declined.

It's not worth spending a shed load of money on a car that you can only justify owning for four days of the year (if we're lucky).

[kambites]

Not to mention the fact that if you try driving a car that you care about in the snow, someone else will probably slide into it.

[Mr Whippy]

Evo VII has a proper AWD system, and 'snow' mode... just make sure you have winter tyres and I imagine it will be very very good in the snow in 'snow' mode!

Dave

[GravelBen]

checkmate91 said:

Tyres!! An AWD on summer tyres isn't much better than a 2wd on summer tyres...

What a load of crap. Sure it will be even better with winter tyres, but 4wd on summer tyres will run rings around 2wd on summer tyres.

[thinfourth2]

We live in one of 5 houses at the end of a couple of miles of private road that rarely sees a snow plough

two nieghbours have a Q7 identical models both diesel in resale grey with huge pimping alloys

House 1 stayed on standard tyres. Got stuck alot with the 4WD doing its stuff and shuffling the power about all 4 wheels

House 2 fitted winter tyres. Didn't get stuck ever


Tyres have alot more influence then how many wheels get power

[Jedimindtrix]

My wifes old car, A3 1.8t Quattro unstoppable in last years snow.

Didn't like potholes though

[VB]

This will be a sort of toy- I can't take driving my diesel Passat for much longer.

X-Type, I'd not thought about to be honest.

I've always wanted an Evo (and watching Jackie Chan's Who am I last month made it all come flooding back) I've got no hope of convincing her an Evo 4 will make a good family hack because a) it's old in her eyes b) it's an Evo

I've got a tough one convincing her about the new ones. I took her to the dealership about 3 years ago to look at an 8 GSR, she bluntly refused to look at it & walked off the forecourt leaving me & the salesman looking at each other.

I believe 'chav' was muttered

But after 2 years with a diesel estate car, I can't take it any longer & she's going to return to find a be-winged lairy WRC car on the drive one day.